Teen Mom Parents Then And Now

Farrah Abraham Then

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One of the most tragic Teen Mom back stories is Farrah Abraham. She had her daughter, Sophia, in 2009, just two months after Sophia's father, Derek Underwood, died in a car crash. She raised Sophia on her own with the help of her parents, with whom she had a very strained relationship. It wasn't unusual for her to be fighting with one or both of them on every episode.

Farrah Abraham Now

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Farrah has since become quite the 'celebrity'. She quit the show after a successful sex tape got her a lot of attention. She has since appeared on a handful of other reality TV shows like 'Ex on the Beach' and now runs a successful OnlyFans account and is very active on social media. She had a minor blip in 2018 when she was arrested for a misdemeanor of resisting the peace.

Jenelle Evans Then

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Jenelle Evans and her story is definitely one of the most well known from Teen Mom. When we first met her, she had just had her first son, Jace, but had gone back to partying hard and having run-ins with the police. Her mom, Barbara, was the other parent on the scene as Jace's father was never in the picture. Barbara eventually took full custody of Jace as Jenelle was deemed not fit to be mother.

Jenelle Evans Now

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The story doesn't end there as in 2014 she had her second child, Kaiser, with her now-ex Nathan Griffith. The fiery couple were present on the show, all while she is trying to get custody of Jace back. She is now married to David Eason and the drama just seems to follow her. The two have since had a child together, but in 2019 there was a report that Eason had shot and killed their family dog. The pair briefly split but are now back together, not long before Eason was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. She was 'fired' from Teen Mom after the animal cruelty incident although Jenelle maintains she was never fired.

Catelynn Lowell Then

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Catelynn Lowell and her boyfriend Tyler Baltierra were first on '16 and Pregnant' in 2009 with their story of having their daughter, Carly, and their journey of giving her up for adoption. They continued to appear on 'Teen Mom' for years to come as they kept in contact with Carly and her adopted parents. Their own families were on the show with Tyler's dad, Butch, in and out of jail, and Catelynn's Mum battling drug abuse.

Catelynn Lowell Now

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Catelynn and Tyler married in 2015 and have since welcomed three daughters into their family for good. The pair have had quite the rocky road with Catelynn being open about battling mental health problems and suicidal thoughts, triggered by suffering a miscarriage, for which she has since received treatment for. They document a lot on social media and things seem to be looking up for them.

Amber Portwood Then

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In 2008, Amber Portwood welcomed her first child, Leah, with her then-fiancé Gary Shirley. She was 18 at the time and has been a longstanding Teen Mom star ever since. She is well known for her colourful history, including substance abuse and anger management issues. She split from Gary in 2011 due to their constant fighting, but he continued to appear on the show (and they continued to fight).

Amber Portwood Now

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She went on to have her second child in 2018 with her then-boyfriend Andrew Glennon. This relationship ended with a nasty fight in 2019 when Amber was arrested and charged with a felony of domestic battery. Glennon has now moved him and their son, James, to California where he has sole custody. Her most recent relationship was with Dimitri Garcia, but unfortunately the Covid-19 pandemic kept them apart and that relationship fizzled out.

Maci Bookout Then

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Maci Bookout and Ryan Edwards had their son Bentley in 2008, when Maci had just turned 18. They were engaged for a time but viewers will remember that relationship and it was no shock to anyone when it ended a few years later. Ryan continued to appear on the show as they attempted to co-parent. Maci eventually moved on with Taylor McKinney, her current husband.

Maci Bookout Now

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Maci and Taylor married in 2016 and now have two children together. They run a clothing brand together, TTM (Things That Matter) and seem to live a life far removed from her 'Teen Mom' days. That's not to say Ryan is out of the picture though. Maci filed a restraining order against him in 2018 after he was apparently leaving them threatening messages.

Kailyn Lowry Then

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Kailyn Lowry made an appearance in 2011 when she was pregnant with her first child, Issac, with then-boyfriend, Jo Rivera. The two were young and struggled to cope with the pressure of raising a child and their fighting eventually led to them splitting up. Jo was still a regular on 'Teen Mom' as the two navigated the best way to co-parent their child.

Kailyn Lowry Now

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Kailyn has since given birth to three more sons, Lincoln, Lux and Creed. Lincoln's father, Javi Marroquin married Kailyn after a short spell of dating and became a stable character on Teen Mom. They divorced after a few years. Lux and Creed were fathered by Chris Lopez, but it seems their relationship never really got off the ground. In 2022 she left Teen Mom to focus on raising her kids.

Chelsea Houska Then

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Chelsea Houska and her Dad were possibly one of the most well liked people on Teen Mom. We met her when she had already split from Aubree's Dad, Adam Lind, and they were in a nasty custody battle. Adam eventually gave up and Chelsea moved on with her now-husband, Cole DeBoer. For the first few seasons, Chelsea was very much a single parent with her Dad's help.

Chelsea Houska Now

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Chelsea and Cole now have three more children together, but rumour is Aubree sees Cole as her Dad and never really sees her biological Dad. The couple left Teen Mom in 2021 but have since been back on TV with their home renovation series 'Down Home Fab'. The pair married in 2016 and seem to have the most adorable relationship and family that Chelsea loved to show on Instagram!

Leah Messer Then

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Leah Messer, former cheerleader, gave birth to twins, Aliannah and Aleeah, with her ex Corey Simms. Aliannah was sadly born with a rare muscular dystrophy that is usually only found in adults. Being teen parents is hard enough, but throw in twins and having a disabled child and their relationship unfortunately couldn't survive. They did get married, but it wasn't enough.

Leah Messer Now

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Leah met Jeremy Calvert and they got married after a year of dating. They share a daughter, Adalynn, but ended up separating after three years. Leah was present on Teen Mom the whole time so the audience got to know Jeremy. She has since dated and was even engaged to Jaylan Mobley, but they never went the whole way. Hopefully one day she will find the right person!

Mackenzie McKee Then

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Mackenzie and Josh McKee welcomed their son, Gannon Dwayne McKee, in September 2011. They married in 2013 and went on to have two more children together! All whilst being present on Teen Mom. In more recent years, Mackenzie claimed her husband cheater on her, shortly after her Mum had died from brain cancer in 2019, but Josh denied this and the pair did manage to reconcile.

Mackenzie McKee Now

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Even though they did appear to reconcile for a short while, Mackenzie and Josh split for good in 2022. Mackenzie has since moved to Florida with their three children, away from Josh who has stayed put in his home state of Oklahoma. Mackenzie is now reported to be dating Khesanio Hall, but we will have to wait and see if this relationship will stand the test of time.

Alex Sekella Then

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Alex Sekella and her boyfriend at the time, Matt McCann, had a daughter together named Arabella in 2011. The couple split up shortly after, reportedly due to Matt struggling with drugs throughout the whole relationship. He is now completely out of the picture. Alex happily moved on with Tim Peters and they married in 2020 after four years together.

Alex Sekella Now

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Alex Sekella and Tim Peters have now welcomed their first child together, Althea. Just before the littlest one arrived, Tim officially adopted Alex's oldest daughter, Arabella, making them a proper family and allowing Arabella to have a Dad now hers is not around. We think this is a lovely gesture! It's one of the few Teen Mom stories with a happy ending.

Briana DeJesus Then

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Briana DeJesus, had her daughter, Nova, in 2011 with her now-ex Devoin Austin. The pair didn't last long and did their best to co-parent in the early seasons of the show. She moved on with Luis Hernandez and they shared another daughter together, but their relationship also ran its course. Briana has had quite the number of relationships over the years. She has actually dated Javi Marroquin, ex of fellow Teen Mom castmate Kailyn Lowry.

Briana DeJesus Now

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Not only did she date Kailyn's ex, Javi, and get engaged to him, she ALSO dated her OTHER ex, Chris Lopez! She then went on to have his son, Amari. It's all a little strange and incestuous. I wonder what Kailyn thinks of all this? She has also dated Bobby Scott most recently, an MTV bodyguard for the show but she also broke up with him in a recent episode of the show.

Bristol Palin Then

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At just 17, Bristol Palin announced she was pregnant. Her mother was a vice presidential nominee at the time and a former Alaskan governor. She welcomed her son, Tripp, with Levi Johnston in 2008. The two had a very on-off relationship seen on the show but eventually called it quits in 2010. She then moved on with Dakota Meyer who she now shares another two children with.

Bristol Palin Now

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Her relationship with Dakota Meyer broken down within a few years and the whole thing was documented on Teen Mom. This was probably one of the reasons she left in 2019. She has now put some distance between herself and the show and now works as a real estate agent in Texas. She shares her three children with her baby daddies and seems to co-parent quite well.

Cheyenne Floyd Then

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Cheyenne Floyd and Cory Wharton appeared on Teen Mom in 2016, having just had their daughter Ryder. Ryder was born with VLCAD, a metabolic condition that means the body cannot break down fats properly. The couple had met while on a different TV show, 'The Challenge' and were caught getting cozy on camera. While on Teen Mom, the two decided to call it quits.

Cheyenne Floyd Now

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Cheyenne has since moved on with her now-husband, Zach Davis. The two now have a son, Ace, together but their life has not been without drama. Davis has a colourful past and has been arrested for grand theft. This was back in 2018 when he was first appearing on the show. It has also come to light that Cheyenne was the victim of a shooting which resulted in her being hospitalized.

Ryan Edwards Then

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Ryan Edwards and Maci Bookout have had quite the relationship over the years on the show. In the beginning, you were almost hopeful they would work it out and get back together, but Ryan ended up taking a turn for the worse. He has been in and out of rehab since his split from Maci and was reported to have left threatening voicemails for Maci and her husband Taylor.

Ryan Edwards Now

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There was quite the blowout between families on a Teen Mom Reunion show between the McKinney family and Ryan's family, namely his Dad. Ryan claims that Maci has stopped him from seeing Bentley since the incident and it's been over a month since he has seen him. His wife, Mackenzie, has now filed for divorce after Ryan was arrested this year and is currently serving an 11 month jail sentence for harassing Mackenzie.

Nathan Griffith Then

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Nathan Griffith and his relationship with Jenelle has almost been forgotten about since her newest relationship with David Eason is somehow even crazier. Back in 2014 when the couple were appearing on the show together they seemed to be constantly fighting. Despite this, Nathan proposed a year later but their arguments eventually got the better of them and they split, leading to a lengthy custody battle over their son, Kaiser.

Nathan Griffith Now

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Nathan is a former Marine, and has since come out and spoken about the PTSD that he suffers from. He says that he was portrayed in the wrong light on the show and claims to have been led astray whilst with Jenelle. He moved on with Ashley Lanhardt in 2017 but they unfortunately split in 2021. Nathan is still getting over this break up and is focussing a lot on his fitness.

Behind the scenes secrets from Teen Mom you need to know: was Amber Portwood exploited?

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Amber Portwood was possibly the cast member with the most trouble in her life in terms of past struggles, and she ended up having a lot of her problems broadcast during the show. With the world knowing what you're going for, this made it even harder for her - and one reality TV expert thinks the show exploited her, and that Amber should have taken a step back from filming.

Kailyn Lowry isn't a fan of Kylie Jenner

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The issues between Kailyn Lowry - which is one-sided - is a bit of a strange one, but here we are. Kailyn Lowry, like most of us, has seen the lives of the Kardashians and the Jenners from their own TV shows, and Kailyn has said that she isn't a fan of how Kylie Jenner tried to "glamorize" the idea of being a young mom... when Kailyn herself is on a show about being a young mom, but go figure.

The cast and crew actually get along

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There's a bigger crew than you might think behind the cameras on the show, including producers and a hefty camera crew. So you might not have given any thought to the relationships between the cast and the crew members. Well, friendships have been formed on the show because each mom actually has a specific crew assigned to her, so it's more like a 'family' filming together.

... Apart from Farrah Abraham!

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We say everyone got along, but Farrah was famous for being a handful on the show. Since leaving it, she spoke about how she was in trouble a lot, particularly for shouting at producers and being a bit of an on-set diva. She admitted the show was just a job for her, and she didn't consider the cast or the crew as even friends, least of all family! Least she's honest.

Briana and Kailyn had a physical fight

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Many women fall out, and on a show like Teen Mom, of course it's going to happen. But with Briana and Kailyn? It went one step further. Kailyn wasn't happy about Briana being near her children, but when she tried to talk to her about it, Briana didn't react very well. The fight wasn't actually filmed, but producers had to step in to pull them apart!

The cops do have to be called sometimes

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There have been some shocking things we see on the show as viewers, and you have to think sometimes how everything is allowed. The truth is, the cops are called when they need to be, if the producers spot any behavior they want to flag up. Not only that, Child Protective Services have also been called if there's anything problematic in terms of how the kids are being treated!

And producers are obliged to report anything illegal

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There's a ton of stuff that doesn't air on the show, including moments where the producers have had to report illegal activity to the cops, too, and obviously not air the footage on the latest episode. While there have been questionable things that actually made it to air, you have to think of the worst stuff that got reported and was never shown...

But they're told not to confront the cast

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Producers may have to report certain behavior, but they're not supposed to actually confront anything head on with the cast themselves. There is security on set to handle certain situations, but as far as producers are concerned, not only are they told not to confront any issues for their own safety, but also because they don't have the legal authority to step in or separate the kids from their parents.

The pay wasn't great at first

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Being young teen moms, you'd think the show might have tried to help them out a little bit more by a bigger pay check, but when the show first aired, the cast members weren't actually earning a lot - only $5,000 each. This was because the show was never planned to be as huge as it became in the end, but as the show got bigger, their pay increased along with it!

Amber's memoir and sad childhood

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It's interesting to watch the show in real time as a fan and get peeks into Amber's childhood and issues, only to later read her memoir and find out the truth about what actually happened. If you're late to the show, you might want to read her memoir first before you go and watch it so everything can make a bit more sense. She released her memoir Never Too Late in 2014.

The show was very big on capturing everything as it happened naturally

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As well as being advised not to step in, producers have the job of capturing everything naturally, which means not trying to direct a situation or interrupt anything as it's happening. They also don't film them live all hours of the day, as Go-Pro cameras are set up in the cast member's cars. A big example of this was when Ryan Edwards was falling asleep while driving, and many fans wondered why producers didn't step in at the time!

Jenelle Evans had some issues with the show

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Jenelle Evans was the cast member who was perhaps depicted in the worst light at times during the show - but hey, it's a reality TV show, we have to have a bit of drama, right? The issue with this show is that you're watching kids who are still learning about themselves - making mistakes - while raising their own kids. Jenelle in particular thought the show tried to portray her worse than she was!

Ryan was using a dating app while married

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The ex of Maci on the show, Ryan, was the father of her first child - and he's also a huge fan of dating apps. We don't mean to browse them while he's single and ready to mingle, either... he apparently can't put them down, regardless of whether he's married or not. Even when married to Mackenzie, Ryan apparently remained a big fan of Tinder...

Editing is done to definitely take things out of context...

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We know that editing is king in reality TV shows - it's what takes dramatic scenes and makes them look worse than they are, or it's what makes that exciting trailer for the next episode. Most of the cast members have said their words have been taken out of context thanks to a bit of creative editing that only shows parts of conversations. Jenelle in particular posted on social media about how certain scenes only show one side of things.

The show's effect on teenage pregnancies

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A lot of people watching the show - namely, parents - were worried that the show would encourage a positive idea of teens getting pregnant, but actually it had the opposite effect. The show saw the decrease in the number of teen pregnancies, apparently by a rate of around 6%! So it turns out the show was enough to put people off, at least!

It was only supposed to be one season

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You know how we mentioned about the awful pay at the beginning of the show? That's also because it was only supposed to be for one season without a big future planned. It makes sense why, if you just want to capture one year of a teen mom's life. But it became a much bigger hit than planned, so producers decided to go with it and keep it on air.

Tyler and Catelynn Baltierra couldn't film a lot because they had a curfew

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Tyler and Catelynn had a very strict curfew that meant they could only film at certain times of the day, and the show had to work around that. Tyler's mom said that they could only film until 8pm so that they could do their homework in the evening. That meant Tyler and Catelynn could only film from 4pm after finishing school until 8pm when curfew started!

Yes, sometimes it's scripted

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It's funny how producers are concerned with letting everything happen naturally when the cameras are rolling, but also not averse to feeding some scripted lines or two! It was revealed by one former cameraman of the show that some storylines are indeed scripted, and that the director sometimes feeds the cast members lines to say. We supposed they plant the seed and watch it 'naturally' unfold?

Jenelle tried to kidnap her own son

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Jenelle and her own mother famously did not get along, and there was a lot of trouble behind the scenes. When Jenelle's mother had custody of her son, Jenelle argued that she wanted to take him with her - so she did, and took him away before putting him in her car and driving off. The producers then had to call the cops on her because she wasn't allowed custody of her son at that time.

The crew got frustrated at certain parenting techniques

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The crew very much had to put up with watching a lot of stuff they might not have agreed with, but couldn't step in - namely, questionable parenting techniques. This isn't to say anything untoward happened, but there might have been things they didn't agree with, like yelling at your kids - they just had to watch it and let the parent do their thing!